Alibaba IPO Delayed by One Week, Say Reports

HONG KONG – Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant, is likely to begin its initial public offering in the second week of September.

That is a week later than previous indications and gives the company an additional week to answer questions from U.S. securities regulators.

Investor meetings are now likely to begin in the week commencing Sept. 8. According to finance industry sources tentative pricing is likely to take place on Sept. 18 with trading in the stock beginning the following day.

The company, which this week showed itself to have quarterly profits greater than EBay and Amazon combined, is listing on the New York Stock Exchange.

Analysts surveyed recently by Bloomberg estimate the company to be worth $187 billion.

Thanks to recent acquisitions in film-making combined with its cloud computing and mobile commerce platforms, the group is set to have a significant impact on the entertainment business.